


What are the odds?

by myndopeus



Series: Power Rangers/Runaways Crossover [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, and a random crossover, just fluff and friendship, there's basically no plot, trimberly dwarves secret santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 12:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13146834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myndopeus/pseuds/myndopeus
Summary: A purely chance encounter in LA leads to the very, VERY brief team-up of two bands of teenage superheroes. Secret santa gift for no-im-fine.tumblr.com





	What are the odds?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [no-im-fine](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=no-im-fine).



> Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! This is a slightly late present because writing is hard, and I'm a terrible procrastinator. Also because this originally was supposed to be a oneshot, but then I actually watched Runaways specifically for this fic and I fell in love, and the idea of a Rangers/Runaways crossover exploded in my head, so. Apologies if it sucks, it hasn't been edited. 
> 
> Anyways, shoutout to no-im-fine, Merry Christmas binch, and to the rest of the Trimberly Dwarves.

* * *

 

The last of the holograms crumbled as Billy smashed through it with a backwards roundhouse. The remnants of the simulated putties flickered away, leaving a bunch of sweaty, dirt-covered teenagers standing in the middle of the pit.

“Nice kick combo earlier, Billy,” Zack panted out as he walked over to the small cooler in the corner.

Billy bent over a little, breathing heavily. “I thought it was a bit too much movement. It probably wouldn’t work as well in an actual fight scenario, or in a smaller space.” He reached out to catch a thrown water bottle, giving Zack a small smile as a thank you.

“Still looked cool though.”

“Thanks, Trini.”

After some time spent gathering their things and figuring out which discarded outer layers belonged to whom, the rangers began hiking their way out of the pit. At the entrance, they were suddenly stopped by the appearance of Alpha-5.

The robot stood there wringing his hands slightly. “Excellent work today, Rangers!” While his manner was cheery, there was an undertone of nervousness in his voice.

Jason stepped forwards. “What’s up, Alpha?”

“Zordon would like to speak with you before you leave.” He turned around, waving at them to follow. Jason sighed, rubbing at his eyes tiredly.

“Ok. Here we go.”

Kimberly frowned a little. “Wonder what he wants now.”

Trini scoffed. “I’m pretty sure it’s not to tell us how good we’re doing.” Out of the corner of her eye, Kimberly noticed Trini’s grip tighten on the straps of her backpack. It was the only thing that betrayed the other girl’s anxiety. Silently, she slowed her step until she was walking level with Trini near the back of the group. Trini glanced at her, but didn’t say anything. Kimberly did notice how she moved slightly closer, though.

Zordon’s giant head swiveled to face them as the door opened. “Rangers,” his voice called out. “My insights into the morphing grid have provided crucial information for you. This mission is of the utmost importance.”

“When is it not,” Zack muttered under his breath.

Jason’s posture had stiffened, almost as if he was trying to make himself look bigger. Quietly, Billy laid a comforting hand on his shoulder; a reminder that while he may be the de facto leader, he didn’t have to carry the whole burden on his own. Jason nodded, laying his hand on top of Billy’s for a second, before turning back to Zordon.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Yes,” Zordon said bluntly. “As you all are aware, after Rita’s defeat, remnants of her power remained behind, resulting in the continued presence of the putties. Now left uncontrolled, the chaotic nature of these energies has lead them to simply seek to cause as much damage and destruction as possible.”

“We’ve been doing our best to eliminate the putties, and-”

“And I am aware of this.” Zordon interjected, momentarily stunning Jason into silence. It was the closest he’d ever gotten to a compliment. “However, there has been a new development. The decline in incidents near Angel Grove is due in large part to your efforts, but it is also because the vestiges of Rita’s power are receding away from here.”

“That’s a good thing… right? That means the Zeo Crystal is safer.” Kimberly said.

“Maybe so, but while Angel Grove may be in less danger, this only means that the threat has moved elsewhere. From my understanding, the putties may now be drawn towards largely populated areas or cities. Alpha and I have been running some analysis while you were training.”

Alpha gestured towards the Morphing Grid. “After mapping the energy signatures, we’ve concluded that the most likely target is… Los Angeles.”

“Shit.” Zack whistled. “That’s not good.”

“Yeah…” Jason thought for a moment. “Is there any way we can take out the threat before it moves? Could you locate the putties before they get there?”

Alpha shook his head. “Well, you’ve been doing such a good job here that the last of the putties are spread quite thin. But this means that we can’t get a strong enough presence to get a clear track on them.”

“So our good work actually backfired on us, then.” Jason ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “What are we supposed to do?”

“The cleanest solution would be to relocate to Los Angeles for the time being-” Alpha began, but was quickly cut off by various protests.

“Are you kidding-” “-move to LA for-” “My parents would never-”

“Silence!” Zordon boomed, and the clamoring quieted down. “The situation may not be ideal for your personal lives, but as the Power Rangers, you duty is to-”

“We know what our duty is, Zordon, but this is crazy!” Jason threw his arms out. “You yourself said that we couldn’t reveal our identities to anyone. How are we supposed to pull off moving to LA?”

“Zordon, may I suggest something?” Alpha-5 tentatively asked. The giant head swiveled to stare down at the robot.

“You know I appreciate your advice, Alpha.”

“Why isn’t he ever that polite to us,” Zack muttered, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Kim.

“In the interest of the continued protection of the Zeo Crystal, which is our top priority, I don’t believe it would be wise to relocate our entire base of operations. Not to mention that such a feat may be a little difficult at the moment… Anyhow, while we clearly can’t ignore the situation, we also can’t be leaving the Zeo Crystal undefended for such a long time.”

“This is a fair point.”

“Yes, well, there may be a compromise.” Alpha’s hands waved in circles as he spoke. “There is a large stretch of empty land between here and Los Angeles. The main threat will be when the putties get within range of the city. I believe that with your aid, Zordon, we could calculate a narrow time range estimating when the putties would arrive.”

There was a humming noise, although it was unclear whether it was coming from Zordon or the ship’s wall. “It is certainly possible. How would this help?”

“What if the rangers were simply to travel to the city during this time period? That way, they would be able to deal with the threat as soon as it arrived, but they would also be able to protect the Crystal in the meantime.”

Zack cheered. “Yeah, Alpha! My man!” He lightly slapped the robot on top of the head, causing Alpha to make some slightly confused noises. “That’s a great solution.”

Billy was nodding excitedly. “Plus, if you think about conservation of resources, it wouldn’t make sense for us to leave now, because if we were based in LA, the radius of the potentially affected area would be far more than we could reasonably patrol.”

“What he said.” Zack shot Billy smile, which he returned with a double thumbs up.

They waited for a response. Zordon seemed deep in thought. The silence stretched into an awkward length. Trini began fidgeting slightly, shifting her weight. As she did so, her shoulder brushed Kim’s.

Finally, Zordon spoke. “I suppose this plan would work.”

“Yes!” Billy clapped several times.

Jason let out a breath. “I guess we could make that work, yeah. Do we have any idea when this… mission would take place?”

“By my estimations,” Alpha said, his eyes whirling in circles as he calculated, “it’s at least a week away. I’ll be able to give you a clearer time frame later.”

“We still need to figure out how we’re gonna swing this by our parents,” Trini pointed out.

“I’m sure you can manage that much without our help,” Zordon said.

Trini’s eyebrow rose. “I wasn’t asking for it, but yeah.” At her side, Kimberly stifled a smile behind her hand.

Zordon grumbled. “Very well. You are dismissed.”

 

Ten days later, the early morning silence of the quarry was broken by the sound of crunching gravel as a van pulled up. The front doors opened as both Billy and Jason stepped out.

“Sure is lucky your mom got a new van,” Jason yawned.

“I mean, we probably wouldn’t have gotten a new one if it weren’t for the fact that we reported it stolen, and it got hit by the train, and I guess our insurance covered both somehow? Anyways, I really hope we don’t wreck this one, because I’d feel really bad if we lost two vans in a row, and I also don’t know what I’d tell my mom.”

Jason chuckled sleepily. “Too many words for this early, Billy.”

“Right.”

They waited in silence for a few minutes, Billy fiddling with some little gadget in his hands. In the distance, they heard the sound of rapid footsteps, and soon Zack appeared, leaping down one of the crested hills.

“Hey,” he said, sliding to a stop. “We ready to go?”

“No, still waiting for Kim and Trini.” Jason opened the trunk of the van so Zack could throw his bag in. “Is your mom gonna be ok?”

Zack hesitated for a second. “I think so. I got her meds ready, made her a bunch of food and stuff. I also gave her Billy’s mom’s number, just in case. Thanks for that, by the way,” he said, turning to Billy, who nodded.

“And you’re sure your mom won’t be suspicious? Both of you?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. Weirdly, my mom didn’t ask a lot of question. She just wanted to know when I’d be back.” Zack shrugged.

“I just told my mom I was going on a road trip and she said it was fine.” Billy barely looked up from the gadget in his hands. “I suppose she’s just glad I have friends.”

“Hell yeah, we’re your friends.” Zack moved to clap him on the back, but when Billy shied away he lowered his hand. He huffed slightly. “God, where are the girls?”

“I’m right here.” Jason and Zack jumped as Kim’s voice came from behind them. Other than the comfortable clothes she was wearing, she looked as awake as ever. There was a cup of coffee in her hand, and she sipped at it as she smirked at them.

Zack rolled his eyes. “Of course you look perfect in the morning.”

“I used to be a cheerleader, Zack,” she reminded him. “I’m used to waking up early. Now we just have to wait for Trini.”

“Speak of the devil,” Zack said as he glanced over her shoulder. The others followed his gaze to see a small figure in rumpled flannel and sweatpants.

“Hey Trin-” She barely looked at them, going straight for the van and climbing in. She didn’t even bother closing the door before leaning against the window and tugging her beanie over her eyes.

Kim chuckled. “Well _someone_ definitely isn’t a morning person.”

After planning out the quickest route (and an argument about who would drive that only ended when Trini threw Kim’s empty coffee cup at Zack), the van pulled out of the quarry and drove off.

* * *

While the lab would be quite spacious under normal circumstances, at the moment there was barely any room. The members of PRIDE were packed in, all except for Victor, who was still laid out. Jonah paced silently. Their eyes watched him as he walked back and forth.

Finally, Geoffrey broke. “Why did you bring us here if you’re just gonna stand there and not talk?” he demanded.

Jonah stopped, turning to face him. After a beat, he spoke. “I’m going to have to ask for another favor from you.”

“No.” Catherine shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

“We already delivered on our share of the deal,” Stacey protested. “You can’t expect us to-” She stops as Jonah raises a hand.

“Let’s not have a misunderstanding. I am very grateful for what you have done for me. I recognize that it may have been… difficult.”

“Indeed,” Tina commented drily. Jonah glanced at her before continuing.

“Nevertheless, bringing me back to my current state has only been the beginning. Now that I am restored, I am able to continue my work. In order to do this, I will require some things.”

Robert frowned. “What things?”

“You are already familiar with my needs.”

“More children?” Dale wrapped an arm around his wife. “What we’ve already done, it’s bad enough! Why don’t you just do it yourself?”

Jonah smiled wryly. “I prefer to work from behind the scenes.”

“Jonah, please,” Janet began, but cut herself off when his gaze focused on her.

“I’d hardly think you’re in a position to be making demands,” he said coolly. “Or any of you, for that matter. After everything that’s been said and done, to call us even would be a very generous statement on my part. If it’s any consolation, it will be far less messy this time. You won’t even have to do the deed yourself. All I ask is that you deliver.”

A tense silence filled the room, a mixture of anger and fear and uncertainty. Despite the many objections, it seemed like no one was willing to come out and refuse. Jonah looked around the room, satisfied.

“What I do… it is a very delicate work. And you have all reaped the benefits, in some shape or form. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to share the details. Suffice to say, if you do this for me, I will make sure you are… appropriately compensated.” A path cleared for him almost unconsciously as he left the room.

As soon as Jonah was out of earshot, Geoffrey spoke. “There’s no way in hell we’re doing this again. I’m out.”

“Let’s not be too hasty,” Tina cautioned. “Believe me, I’m not fond of this either, but Jonah knows things about us. He has evidence.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” Robert and Tina locked eyes.

Janet bit her lip, uncertainty heavy in her tone. “I understand that this has gone farther than we expected, but perhaps we should consider it.”

“Consider what?” Robert moved towards her, but was stopped by a vice grip on his arm. Glancing at Tina’s face, he stepped back. “There’s nothing to consider. We don’t owe him anything else, we don’t have to do this.”

“Maybe you don’t,” Janet said, “but I do.” Their eyes met in an intense stare.

“As much as I hate to admit it,” Tina sighed, crossing her arms, “he’s the one with the power here. I’m quite confident that he could ruin all of our lives if he wanted to. But then where do we draw the line? This is how it starts. First it’s one favor, then another, and before you know it, he practically owns us.”

“It’s not as if our hands aren’t dirty already.” The shocked silence seemed to ring out through the room. Leslie looked each of them in the eye. “If you aren’t willing to do it, then fine. I’ll do all the work. But don’t even think about trying to run away from this. It won’t work. And as far as PRIDE is concerned? I know whose team I’m on. I suggest you all spend some time figuring that out as well.” Leslie stalked out of the room, leaving the others to stand in silence.

* * *

“Ugh, finally.” Jason sighed in relief as they passed the sign indicating Los Angeles was only 15 miles away.

“I take it that means we’re here?” Kimberly took out one of her earbuds, pausing her music.

“Just about.”

“So, what’s the plan here again?” Zack called out, practically climbing out of his seat. “So far, all we’ve got is ‘find putties, Zack smash’.”

“Nice Hulk reference. But yeah, I figured out how to wire the ship’s communicators to work on a wavelength accessible and transmittable by cell towers. Not sure what the specifics of alien technology are. Alpha should be able to give us updates now.”

“How’s he gonna do that?”

“Straight to our phones, I guess?”

“Guys,” Jason said. “Zordon and Alpha brought something up with me yesterday after training. They didn’t want me to tell you guys, but I figured you’d have a right to know.”

Kimberly frowned. “What’s going on, Jace?”

“They said that while they were doing their energy scanning thing, they noticed some activity within LA. Something about abnormal fluctuations and power spikes. Point is, whatever it is might be the reason why the putties are heading here.”

Billy hummed in thought. “Makes sense. But then, why not tell us?”

Jason shrugged. “I guess they just didn’t want to admit that they don’t fully know what’s happening.”

“Typical,” Zack scoffed. “So what’s the plan?”

“McDonalds,” a small voice said from the window, speaking for the first time in the whole trip.

Zack bursts into laughter. “Sleeping Beauty awakes! And I wholeheartedly agree with that. McDonalds first, then we plan.”

“Call me Sleeping Beauty again and I’ll crush your nuts,” Trini grumbles sleepily.

“And she still has energy to threaten,” Zack chuckles. “What, you don’t like nicknames, Crazy Girl?”

“’M fine with that one. Not a princess.” She’s barely audible from beneath the collar of her jacket.

Kimberly perks up at that. “What’s wrong with princesses?”

“You’re the princess, princess. Not me.”

“Oh really?” Kim smirks. “Because I think you’re pretty enough to be one too.”

Trini opens her mouth, but no noise comes out. She flounders for a second, and Kim raises an eyebrow. Unable to come up with a response, Trini closes her mouth and retreats into her jacket, hiding her growing blush. Kim simply smiles and puts her earbuds back in.

“There’s an exit in a few miles that has a McDonalds and a gas station.”

“Thanks, Billy.”

“You’re welcome.”

The most difficult part was trying to convince Trini to get out of the van instead of going through the drive through. They eventually managed it with a combination of Billy and Kim’s pleading and Zack stealing her beanie. A few minutes and bruises later, they were all seated at a table with their orders when Jason’s phone buzzed with an incoming message.

“Mm. That’s Alpha,” Billy said, looking at the screen. Jason wiped his hand on his jeans before reading the text.

“Alpha says that the putties should be arriving somewhere between 30 to 40 hours from now. So we have some time.”

Kimberly chewed thoughtfully. “We can use that time to prep, figure out how we’re gonna do this. Maybe we can even start looking for whatever power source the putties are being attracted to.”

“30 to 40 hours?” Trini said. “That’s tomorrow night. Are we gonna sleep in the van or something?”

“We could find a motel somewhere,” Zack suggested. “A little skeezy, sure, but it could work.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” Jason stood up as they began clearing the table. “For now, we should make our way into the city and scout the area the putties are likely to show up. I don’t want us getting caught morphing on a traffic camera or something.”

“Back to the van it is.” Zack stretched his arms above his head with a groan. “Just promise me that we’ll get to walk around a little bit. I’ve heard of some sick parkour spots that I want to check out.”

* * *

            _Karolina:_ I’m on my way.

She tapped send on the message to the group chat. After everything that had happened with their parents, especially Chase, she’d been craving more and more time to herself. Walking to the coffee shop gave her time to at least try and process things.

Her thoughts kept drifting back to what Nico had told her; about her parents, about her sister Amy, about Alex. Her thoughts these days tended to focus mostly on Nico in general. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on something other than that particular personal dilemma.

Karolina’s thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly bumped roughly into someone. There was a clatter and a splash of hot liquid against the bottom of her jeans, and she winced.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” a voice said as the other person knelt down to try and clean up the mess. “I totally didn’t mean for that to happen.”

Karolina shook her head. “Don’t worry, it was my fault. I wasn’t looking.” She bent down, picking up the coffee cup. “I’m really sorry about your drink.”

“Ah, that’s alright. It’s like, my third of the day, so I should probably slow down anyways.”

Karolina couldn’t help but notice that the girl had a very pretty smile.

A hand reached up and brushed a lock of short brown hair behind her ear. “You actually look kind of familiar…”

Karolina grimaced. “Yeah, you’ve probably seen the posters around town. The Gibborim ones?”

“Ohh, yeah! I saw some of those earlier. They’re definitely…”

“Creepy?” They both laughed a little at that. “It’s ok, I’ve heard it all.”

“I was going to say ‘attention-catching’, but yeah, that too.” Her hands slipped into the pockets of her leather jacket. “I haven’t really heard of Gibborim before, but it seems to be pretty popular around here.”

That caught Karolina’s attention. “So I guess you’re not from around town, then?”

“You could say that, yeah.” She held out her hand. “I’m Kimberly, by the way.”

Karolina eyed her for a second before accepting the handshake. “Karolina Dean.”

Kimberly smiled. She seemed alright, nicer than most strangers that approached her on the street, but something in her gut made Karolina feel a little cautious. Maybe it was how her eyes seemed to look around a bit too shrewdly, or the way she had said that she wasn’t from the area. It might have been a little paranoid, but after finding out what their parents’ PRIDE committee really was, she was a lot more in tune with her instincts.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, but I’m, uh, actually meeting up with some people.”

Karolina shifted her bag on her shoulder. “Yeah, same.”

“Maybe I’ll see you around,” Kimberly said playfully, and despite herself, Karolina had to fight down a slight blush.

“Maybe, yeah. Bye.”

It was a harmless interaction, but as they parted ways, neither of them could shake the feeling that there was more lurking under the surface. They didn’t look back at each other.

As she rounded the corner, Karolina caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye. She watched as a white Gibborim van drove down the street in the direction she was coming from. Coincidentally, the same way Kimberly was going.

She picked up her pace, pulling out her phone as she jogged towards the coffee shop.

            _Karolina_ : We might have a problem.

            _Gert_ : As in “i found something in my mom’s desk” problem, or “my dad just             tried to kill me” problem?

            _Nico_ : I know sarcasm is part of your personality, but too soon, Gert

            _Alex_ : Where are you?

            _Karolina_ : Saw a Gib van, I think it was tailing this girl down the street. Didn’t             recognize her, she’s not from here.

            _Chase_ : That’s not good.

            _Alex_ : You think they’re going after kids again?

            _Karolina_ : What else could it be?

            _Nico_ : If they are, then we have to do something. We need to get ready.

            _Chase_ : Don’t know if I can get my hands on the fistigons. What’s the plan?

            _Alex_ : Save the girl. What else?

* * *

Zack took a gentle running start before leaping into the air, corkscrewing before landing in a kong vault over the picnic table. He landed on a narrow ledge, taking a large step before backflipping off of the edge. He landed in a roll, popping back to his feet with a little whoop.

They’d been a little disappointed to find out that the nearest contact points also happened to be one of the richest areas of LA. Luckily, rich people liked to build parks, whether in the name of public service or for private use. Zack had found a somewhat isolated area that could provide cover if they needed to morph. If he had spent a little time there practicing tricks, that was an added bonus.

His phone beeped out with an incoming message.

 _Crazy Girl_ : Y’all are gonna want to see this, sending you my location.

Luckily, Trini was only a few miles away, so it didn’t take long for him to reach her. Zack found her sitting in the branches of a tree that was barely too tall to be climbed by a normal person.

“I’m guessing that makes you feel tall,” he called up to her in greeting. She flipped him off without looking up from her phone.

“Nice to see you too, Taylor.”

After a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, he jumped up, settling on a branch across from her. “What’re we looking at here?”

Trini jerked her head across the street. “Apparently it’s a church or something. Definitely not Christian, though.”

“And? You see anything suspicious?”

“No, but…” Trini shifted uncomfortably. “Can you feel that? Like, it’s not a physical sensation, but there’s definitely something… off.”

Zack concentrated for a moment.

“Yep. Ranger senses are definitely tingling.”

“But I still have no clue what it is.”

As they were talking, Billy approached the tree. “Hi guys. Are we meeting up there?”

Zack jumped down to the ground. “Nah, T and I were just chilling.”

“I don’t get how you could do that. This place feels weird, you know?” Billy shivered slightly, even though the air was warm.

It was only a few minutes before Kim and Jason found them. Trini hopped down to join the rest of the group.

Kimberly squinted as she gazed at the building. “Hey, Church of Gibborim; I know that.”

Jason blinked in surprise. “You do?”

“Well, not really, but I ran into this girl on the way here, she told me about it.”

“A girl?” Trini demanded. “Why? What did she talk to you about?”

“We just bumped into each other, Trin, chill, it’s not like I was hitting on her,” Kim joked. “I saw her on a couple of posters advertising this stuff. Her name was like, Carolina? Caroline?”

“Karolina Dean,” Billy said. When they looked at him in surprise, he held up his phone. “I Googled it.”

“Right,” Kim said. “And I’m starting to think that maybe this Church has something to do with what Zordon and Alpha were talking about. When we bumped into each other, I felt something.”

Zack’s eyes flickered to Trini momentarily, noticing her suddenly skeptical and closed off expression.

“When you say ‘felt something’,” Jason began, “you mean something like what we’re feeling now? Because whatever is in there, it’s something big and dangerous, and if this Karolina girl has something to do with it…”

Kimberly shook her head. “Not exactly. It didn’t feel like this, but there was definitely something different about her. And the fact that she’s connected to this church definitely isn’t a coincidence.”

Jason’s foot tapped on the ground. “I think that’s enough recon for now, guys. We should probably get out of here, find somewhere to stay for the night.” There were various noises of agreement as the rangers started heading down the street.

Trini cracked a small smile, nudging Jason. “Hey Boss Man, this Church has a bunch of creepy vans too. Maybe you should join.”

“How many times do I have to say, it’s not that kind of van…”

* * *

The group sat gathered around the coffee table as Karolina finished recounting what had happened.

“I don’t get it,” Nico muttered. “Why would our parents need _another_ sacrifice?” She wrapped her arms around herself, shrinking down slightly. The normally confident girl seemed a lot smaller now.

“It would explain why they’ve been acting even weirder recently,” Gert said. “Shit, you don’t think this is because they think we know, right?” Beside her, Molly had been sitting silently. She stiffened at Gert’s words.

Karolina reached over to put a hand on Nico’s knee. “We don’t know why they’re doing this. But if we have a chance to save someone, we have to at least try, right?” She looked around the group for affirmation.

Chase nodded his head grimly. “I say we do it. Stop them.”

“I agree,” Alex said. “But how do we do it without drawing even more suspicion to ourselves?”

“If they’re using the Gibborim vans, it means they aren’t doing it themselves, so that helps a bit,” Karolina explained. “It also means we can follow them from when they leave the Church.”

“Okay, and then what?” Nico looked at her worriedly. “We just swoop in and stop them? As if it’s that easy?”

“It won’t be,” Karolina admitted. “But some of us have superpowers, and you have your magical staff. We’re a team. We’ll figure it out. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“Yeah,” Nico sighed. Karolina tried not to make a face as Alex leaned over and draped his arm across Nico’s shoulders. She didn’t even look at him, to his disappointment.

Gert put her head in her hands. “I can’t believe we’re about to do this again.”

“What choice do we have?”

* * *

Kimberly shivered slightly as a breeze flowed through. She’d left her jacket in the van to make movement easier, but it meant walking around in the cold for what could be the next several hours. Even though she was used to patrolling at night, they usually did that in their suits. Jason had told them not to morph, as it would probably cause all sorts of trouble if the Power Rangers were sighted in LA instead of Angel Grove.

Her breath misted in front of her, and she groaned, checking her watch. There were no updates from Alpha or the others, and she hadn’t felt anything. All they could do was manage their individual areas and wait for the putties to show up.

Even though the stoplight was operating on the nearby road, hardly any cars were passing through. She stayed away from the streetlights to avoid any attention, but for the most part it was silent. A few cars pulled up as the stoplight turned red.

She pulled out her phone, shooting a text to the others.

            _Kim_ : anything?

            _Jace_ : nothing yet

            _Z-Man_ : all clear here

            _Billy_ : might have something, i’ll check it out.

She reminded herself to change Zack’s name back to normal as she put her phone away. She glanced up at the sound of a car door opening, realizing that the vans from earlier had pulled up. It was when she took a second look that she realized they were holding what looked like baseball bats and tire irons. It took a moment for the situation to sink in.

“Seriously? I don’t have time for this,” she said to herself, exasperated. She stepped back into the shadows as the men approached.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” One of the goons scoffed as the rest pressed in on her. She rolled shoulders and tilted her head. “I mean, I’m not from here, so I don’t think I’ll be much help.”

“Doesn’t matter what you think,” a masked figure said before a baseball bat swung at her.

 

“Shit!” Alex exclaimed as he watched the Gibborim thugs swarm in. He quickly shoved the car in park before they all rushed out. Grunts and thuds echoed out from the darkness.

“What’s happening?”

“I can’t see-” There was a sudden spray of dirt as a body was thrown from the fray, landing several feet away and skidding in the grass. He let out a moan before falling still. Alex stared down with wide eyes. “What the hell?”

“I’ve got this.” Karolina unclipped her bracelet, letting it fall to the ground as her hands illuminated. “Get away from her!” she yelled, raising her arms and lighting up the scene.

Kimberly was mid-grapple when a blinding light shone in her face. She instinctively covered her eyes, squinting at the figure that appeared to be the source. In the split second distraction, a thug struck out wildly, hitting her in the side of the head. She hit the ground, her vision blurring slightly from the blow. “Ugh…”

He was about to go in for a second hit when Chase ran up and slugged him in the face. He got a few good hits in, sending the goon stumbling away.

Gert saw one of the remaining kidnappers winding up for a swing aimed at Chase. She tried to call out in warning, but she was a little too late.

“Chase, look out!” His eyes widened as he saw the bat swinging towards him.

Suddenly, as if from out of nowhere, Kimberly was in front of him. The bat sailed through the air towards her, and she raised her arm to block it.

There was an echoing _crack_ as the bat splintered to pieces upon impact.

The man stared in awe at the broken handle in his hands. He didn’t even have a chance to say anything before Kimberly knocked him out with a punch.

“Woah,” Nico said, stunned.

Blood trickled down Kimberly’s forehead as she glanced around, disoriented, at the mismatched group of teenagers surrounding her. “Who are you guys? What happened?” She recognized a face, which only served to confuse her even more. “Karolina?”

A rustling from the foliage and a crumbling noise drew their attention to the side. Nico held her staff at the ready.

Kimberly turned to them. “You guys need to get out of here. _Now_.”

There was a flicker of a shadow, and then a crash of glass as the streetlight was shattered, plunging them all into darkness.

Gert fumbled for her phone, somehow managing to turn on the flash without dropping it. Her hands were shaking wildly, the unfocused beam of light swinging everywhere. She caught a glimpse of something metallic, and what looked to be a large boulder heading towards her. She immediately turned and ran.

“This way!” Alex’s voice called from what she hoped was the direction of the street. She heard the pounding footfalls of the others, and she pointed her phone ahead of them.

They were almost at the street when one of the vans suddenly collapsed under the weight of something impossibly heavy. Gert screamed in surprise and they all looked up to see the body of a rock-like monster crushed into the roof of the van. On top of it, a figure in yellow armor gazed down at them.

“Don’t just stand there, take cover! God,” the figure commanded, before leaping back into the darkness. They stood for a second before dashing behind the wreckage.

“This is not what I expected,” Chase panted, shaking out his aching hand.

Nico grabbed Karolina’s arm. “Karolina, who was that girl?”

Karolina was at a loss for words. She peeked her head around the corner, and immediately withdrew it with a yelp as a chunk of rock sailed past.

“We have to help,” Molly insisted, even when Gert shot her a look. “Isn’t that what we came here for?”

“We don’t even know what we’re up against here!”

“Besides,” Alex said, “I don’t think we need to. You hear that?”

A sudden quiet filled the area. The sounds of combat had vanished, and the teens held their breath as they listened for signs of life.

“Who do you think won?” Molly whispered.

There was a crunch of footsteps on gravel as a figure rounded the side of the van. The teens shot to their feet, and Karolina’s hands instinctively lit up again. Light reflected off of the black armor as the figure stopped.

“Ok,” a voice sounded out. “I know I’m in no position to talk, but that’s kind of weird.” Four more figures stepped out to join them.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” the red one said, holding out a hand as it stepped forwards. Before he could say any more, Nico slammed her staff on the ground.

“Reveal!” she called out as the staff glowed.

There was a ripple of energy in the air as the command took effect. The figure stumbled back as the armor began to melt off of his fingertips.

Nico blinked in shock. She’d thought that the armor might be hiding their parents, or some other evil being. Instead, they were now facing five normal-looking teenagers.

“Uh oh,” Billy said as he watched the armor recede. “How did you do that?”

“How did _you_ do that?” Chase demanded.

Zack pointed. “You answer first.”

“No, you.”

“We were here first!”

“We live here-”

“Guys,” Kimberly interjected, holding a hand to her head. “Leave first, questions later.” She wobbled slightly, and an arm slipped around her waist. She relaxed as Trini supported her, gratefully leaning her weight on the other girl.

“Are you alright?” Karolina almost came forward, but was stopped by an intensely piercing glare from Trini, who somehow wrapped her arm more protectively around Kim. “We can get help, first aid kits-”

“We can’t just take them to any of our houses,” Chase pointed out. “Our parents…”

“We have rooms at the motel,” Jason declared firmly. He’d placed himself inbetween the rangers and the other group. “It’s the only one within 20 miles. Not hard to miss. You can meet us there if you want answers.”

Alex hesitated for a moment, uncertain. Most of the others seemed to be looking to him to make the call; Nico was staring at the ground, and Karolina seemed to be watching Kimberly. Finally, he relented.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

* * *

Chase tapped Jason on the shoulder as he was heading to the bathroom. “Here.” He handed him a first aid kit.

Jason looked at it for a moment before accepting. “Thanks.”

“I’m here if you need any help.”

Jason mouth twitched. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” He tried to turn away when Chase stopped him again.

“You should probably check if she has a concussion, just-”

“Dude.” Jason turned to face him. “I don’t need your help.”

“I mean, I play lacrosse, I know how to treat head injuries.”

“Yeah, and I used to play football, so what?”

“So-”

“Alright.” The first-aid kit was snatched from Jason’s hands as Trini roughly shoved them both away from the door. “Take this testosterone-fueled argument somewhere else, since you’re clearly not making yourselves useful.” She closed the bathroom door behind her, leaving the two boys standing awkwardly.

“So much for that, I guess.”

Molly sat curled up in the hotel armchair. Billy sat in the desk chair nearby, tapping his fingers and not making eye contact.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Billy looked up. “Oh. Uh, yeah, I guess. I don’t know if I can give you an answer, but you can certainly try.”

She sat up. “So like, what kinds of superheroes are you guys? Because some of us are superheroes too, but like, a different kind.”

Billy hummed, wiggling in his chair to face her more. “I mean, for starters there’s the whole armor thing that you saw. That’s pretty cool, although it took us a while to figure out how to do that. Um, we’re also pretty fast, and we’re really strong.”

Molly grinned widely at that. “I’m super strong too!”

“Wow, really?” Billy smiled.

“Yeah!”

Karolina sat on the edge of one of the beds, while Zack lay sleeping on the other. The mattress dipped slightly as Nico sat next to her.

She nodded at Zack. “He passes out almost as quickly as Molly does, huh?”

Karolina laughed. “Yeah.”

“You think that’s why she was targeted by your church?” Nico asked quietly. “Because of their powers?”

“I have no idea,” Karolina admitted. “I mean, they said they just arrived, and it wasn’t exactly obvious that she’s a superhero. I think it was just a coincidence.”

“A really weird coincidence.”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause.

Nico took a breath. “What happened before, with the Gibborim enforcers… that was really brave of you to step up like that.”

Karolina shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to be brave. I don’t think I could have just stood there and let them do that. I didn’t really think. In hindsight, it seems kind of stupid.”

Nico considered. “Eh, maybe. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t brave.” She smiled at Karolina, knocking their shoulders together.

Karolina looked down. “I wish I could do that more often. Be brave, I mean. I talk about wanting to rebel and break free from everything, but I feel like I can’t actually make myself do it.” She bit her lip. “Maybe I’m more of a coward than I thought.”

“Hey.” Nico placed a hand on her arm. “You’re not a coward. Ok? Cowards run from stuff, they lie to themselves. You’re not doing that.”

Karolina blinked back tears. “Sometimes I- I just feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t do something, you know? As if it’s all building up inside me, and the longer all of this goes on, the longer I keep having to hide it-” She choked up slightly, taking a shaky breath.

Nico quickly pulled Karolina into an embrace, despite the awkward position. She held her as Karolina’s form shook slightly.

“You don’t have to hide it,” Nico whispered. “Not with us, and not with me. We’re in this together. The only way we’re going to make it through this is with each other. Ok?”

Karolina nodded into Nico’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, until the tremors left Karolina’s body. As she leaned away, she let out a watery laugh.

“At least you got to see me glow again. Now you won’t have to try sneaking my bracelet off or something.”

Nico smirked. “Debatable.” They lapsed into silence, taking comfort in the physical contact and the warmth of each other’s presence.

 

Kimberly glanced up as Trini closed the door. “Hey there.”

“Hey yourself.” She sat down next to Kim, opening up the first aid kit. She peered at the wound on Kimberly’s head. “Got you good, huh?”

“Pardon me if I was distracted by the girl that bursts into rainbows.”

Trini’s fingers trailed gently over the bruised area, and she tucked a lock of Kim’s hair behind her ear. “Sure.” She reached down to grab some disinfectant. “You can still try and blame the putties. I won’t say a word.”

“My hero.” Kim winced slightly as Trini cleaned the cut. “But I’m also considering the guilt factor it might have on Karolina.”

Trini blinked. “Yeah, she seemed pretty concerned,” she commented airily.

Kimberly’s head tilted as she watched Trini busy herself with the bandage. A smile slowly spread across her face. “Trini, are you jealous?”

She practically snorted in response. “Jealous? Of some model rich girl from LA? Yeah right.” She belatedly realized that her response wasn’t convincing to either of them.

“You’re totally jealous!”

“Of what?”

“That she managed to catch my attention,” Kimberly suggested. “And that we have some chemistry.” Trini didn’t respond, but the blush on her neck was clearly visible.

Kimberly scooted closer until their sides were pressed together. She heard Trini’s quiet intake of breath. “Hey, I’m just messing with you. Like you said, she’s just some rich, model, rainbow girl from LA.”

Trini raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t sound that bad when you say it.”

“Maybe it’s not. But what I mean is, she’s not important to me. But you are,” Kimberly reassured her. Trini’s eyes rose to meet hers when she said that. “We’re more important than that.”

Trini nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Kim’s. “Ok.” Her hand reached up to the side of Kimberly’s face, and it took Kim a moment to realize that she was just tilting her head to apply the bandage.

“And for the record, princesa?” Trini gently pressed down the edges of the patch. “I still think you’re prettier than her.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm. But just barely. Karolina’s actually really hot.”

“She is, isn’t she?”

* * *

“You sure you guys are gonna be okay?” Chase asked. They all stood in the parking lot of the motel as the rangers saw the others off.

“Don’t worry about us,” Zack said, his hair still rumpled from his nap. “We did what we came here to do. I’m more concerned about you guys.”

Alex nudged his glasses up his nose. “I mean, it’s not like you guys can help us much. Short of busting through in your armor suits, but I doubt the police would take kindly to that.”

“All the same, let us know if things take a turn for the worse, yeah?” Jason clapped Alex on the shoulder, and he had to fight to stay upright from the force of it.

Molly turned to Billy. “Next time we see each other, we should totally arm wrestle or something. See who’s stronger.”

“That would be cool!”

Karolina pulled Kim into a hug. “Have a safe trip. And sorry again, about the bright lights.”

Kim waved off the apology. “Don’t worry, we heal fast. And you bought me coffee, so we’ll call it even.”

“You drink too much coffee, Kim,” Trini said, rolling her eyes. She and Nico stood awkwardly next to each other while everyone else said their goodbyes. Nico looked Trini up and down.

“I like your boots.”

“I like your jacket.”

“Cool.” The corner of Trini’s mouth tilted upwards.

“We’ve all exchanged numbers, right?” Gert held her phone up. “I mean, assuming we are going to stay in contact, and since social media isn’t exactly the most subtle way of communicating, not to mention we don’t even know each others full names-”

“And let’s keep it that way,” Trini piped up. “We’re not really supposed to reveal our ‘identities’.”

“Fair enough.”

“Alright.” Alex nodded, looking down at his phone. “We’d better get back before our parents get suspicious.”

“Agreed.”

With the last of their farewells said, the rangers walked back into the motel as the cars pulled out of the parking lot.

“Strange world we live in,” Zack commented. “Although I guess superheroes in LA makes more sense than Power Rangers in Angel Grove.”

“I kind of feel sorry for them,” Kimberly mused. “And we thought we had a hard time keeping secrets from our parents.”

Jason yawned. “At least we have some idea of what’s going on. We’re going to have to tell Alpha and Zordon, but that can wait. I don’t know about you guys, but I kind of want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“The whole ‘attempted kidnapping’ thing kind of ruined the mood.”

“I kind of hope we can come by again. I told Molly that I’d bring some of my projects over, and she said that she’d show me her parents’ lab. Did you know that Gert has a telepathic link to a dinosaur?”

“She has a WHAT?!”


End file.
